The Los Angeles Kings held an optional practice at Rogers Arena on Wednesday, and one of the 11 skaters taking part was defenseman Andrej Sekera. Now two weeks into his Los Angeles Kings tenure, Sekera is faced with the challenge of adapting to a new conference and gaining chemistry with new teammates at a time of the season when off-day recovery is imperative and lengthy practice sessions are more infrequent.
“New personnel, new systems, new guys who you play with. You don’t know their habits,” Sekera said. “I just try to talk to them, figure it out on the practice, and I try to watch as much video as I can to understand their systems and their habits, and I just try to keep it an honest game out there, work hard in the D-zone, and if there’s a chance, I join the rush.”
It came together in a strong team-wide showing against Colorado on Tuesday night after which Darryl Sutter diverted a Brayden McNabb conversation towards an appraisal Sekera’s performance. “Veteran partner with [McNabb], and he was probably the best player on the ice,” Sutter said after Los Angeles’ 5-2 win.
Sekera, 28, is a strong skater who fits the mold of a modern, versatile NHL defenseman. He’s agile, competitive, a strong checker and capable of playing in all situations – though his minutes have been reduced from a 22:46 average while with Carolina to 18:43 early in his tenure with Los Angeles as he becomes more comfortable. He has one assist and an even rating in six games since joining the Kings.
“He started on the road, and it’s not easy,” Sutter said. “He played three games on the road…so it’s not easy for players. It’s not just the playing part of it. It’s a big adjustment.”
“You know what? We’re trying to win games. I’m not too caught up in anything else,” Sutter said. “We took his minutes back to try and just make him focus on shifts. He hasn’t killed penalties yet, which you’d think a top four guy – if he is a top-four guy – would be able to.”
It is encouraging that Sekera followed up a pair of strong performances against Pittsburgh and Montreal with a standout showing on the road against Colorado.
“I feel more and more comfortable with every single game,” Sekera said. “You always have some bumps on the road – you’ll make mistakes – but as long as you work hard and you understand it, I don’t think there will be any problem.”
And that of course leads to a hugely important divisional game on Thursday against the Vancouver Canucks, a team that sits three points in front of the Kings and currently occupies a playoff spot that contains home ice advantage. The rivals will meet three times over the remainder of the regular season, which ends one month from today.
“Every game is big, I would say,” Sekera said. “Not just the next one, but we are focusing on our next one and will try and win that one.”
Andrej Sekera, on communicating with Brayden McNabb on the ice:
Not just with him, but overall communication is very important because sometimes you are not facing the play and when your teammates let you know what’s open, it’s better for you and you don’t have to worry about what’s going on – where should you go and what you should do.
Sekera, on whether he and McNabb have raised each other’s games:
Definitely. We just try to help each other out, make our life easier out there and give the puck to the forwards so they can enjoy it a little bit more.
Sekera, on what he recalled about McNabb’s early NHL tenure in Buffalo:
He always had a skill set. He was a bigger body who liked to throw a check but he knows how to defend as well and chip in offensively. As long as we are communicating and moving our feet, I think we’ll be fine.
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